A critical look at the San Francisco Bay area, from the perspectives of East Oakland youth

Monday, June 2, 2008

Old Oakland: Aesthetics

By Yesenia and Beatriz (Henry and Valeria were absent)

While walking around old Oakland, we noticed that this part of Oakland wasn’t so bad, speaking of aesthetics. While walking around, we saw a lot of trees and thought that made the place look good. This was an old part of Oakland, but city money has been used to keep the buildings very well taken care of. The buildings aren’t in bad condition, and the look of an old buildings makes the place look interesting.

While walking around the market, the place looked clean, except for the very full trash cans from all the people walking around and with food. Every food-seller and other sellers in their stands took care of their own stand, making sure it was clean so when it was time to leave they were ready to go.

Many people walked around Farmer's Market trying to buy things, we tried interviewing people there to see what their thoughts were about their community there. The three people we interviewed thought that it was a really clean place. They mentioned that the reason for why they think their community there is clean is because people are used to cleaning up for themselves, and there was was also a janitor that would clean after everything was over. It seemed that everyone was expected to clean up what they dirty themselves, and if they were selling something at the Farmer's Market, the people who go there try clean around their stand so it won't look dirty.

Interesting observations. Why do you think the aesthetics are good in Old Oakland compared to other areas? Also, why do you think the city put money into restoring these buildings, while many other ones stay dilapidated? I'm interested in your critical insights.